Code Board Attorney & Special Magistrate

Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, the Local Government Code Enforcement Boards Act, authorizes local municipalities to adopt, by ordinance a system that gives code enforcement boards or special magistrates the authority to hold hearings and impose administrative fines and other non-criminal penalties as a method of enforcing city codes and ordinances where a pending or repeated violation continues to exist. The City of Eustis currently uses a seven-member Code Enforcement Board, appointed by the City Commission for enforcement of its local ordinances. The Code Enforcement Board Attorney serves as legal advisor to the Code Enforcement Board and provides annual training to Board Members in various Florida Statutes involving ethical rules, sunshine law and public records, etc. According to Sec. 2-57(1)(d), the code enforcement board attorney shall act as the special magistrate in the event that there are not enough code enforcement board members present at a meeting to meet statutory quorum requirements. The selected Code Board Attorney will also serve as the city’s Local Hearing Officer for its school zone speed enforcement camera cases.